In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to Create this Abstract Manipulation with Tree Bark Texture and Brush Elements. Along the way, you will learn how you can apply layer masks to image adjustment layers to create unique effect, as well as learning to blend texture and to use various elements to create great abstract effect.

In this tutorial, I will show you the steps I took to Create this Abstract Manipulation with Tree Bark Texture and Brush Elements. Along the way, you will learn how you can apply layer masks to image adjustment layers to create unique effect, as well as learning to blend texture and to use various elements to create great abstract effect.

Video Tutorial

If you have any trouble with Step 3, I have a video tutorial here to show you exactly how to apply the tree bark texture over the model’s face:

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Step 1

Create a new document sized 800px * 1136px, fill the background layer with #cccec9 color. We will add some textures onto the background – Load the tree bark texture into Photoshop, use the rectangular marquee tool to select a portion of it as shown below:

Copy and paste the selection onto our document, resize it to fit the size of the canvas. Apply the following image adjustments to it:

Black and White

Levels

Set the layer blending mode to “Subtract” (for versions other than CS6, you can use “overlay” mode instead)

Add a highlight to the centre with a soft white brush:

Then create a new layer, and apply some grunge brush paintings over it – I have the following effect below:

Step 2

Load the girl image into Photoshop, cut out the girl and paste it over to our document:

Apply the following surface blur settings to this girl layer:

Use any grunge brushset as eraser, remove the edges of the girl as shown below: (make sure you adjust the brush size accordingly as you paint)

Add the following 3 adjustment layer as clipping mask to this girl layer:

Black and White

Layer mask on the black and white adjustment layer:

Levels

Layer mask on the levels adjustment layer:

Curves

and here is the effect so far:

Step 3

We will add some bark textures around the face – use quick selection tool to select a piece on the bark image, and copy & paste to our document, as shown below:

Distort the new bark layer as show below:

Select this new layer, and apply the following “Refine Edge” options: (by doing so, it will give a rough edge for this tree bark layer)

Apply the following 3 image adjustments to this bark layer:

Black and White

Levels

Curves

Then we can duplicate this layer a few times, then move them around the face as shown below:

Step 4

We’ve now done the textures and painting parts. Let’s flatten the image and duplicate the background layer, grab the clone stamp tool:

Set the brush to soft round for this clone stamp tool:

Define the following portion as the clone source, then paint around the girl’s face, as shown below:

Apply the following layer mask to this new layer to hide some portion:

You can apply some liquify filter effect to various parts of the photo as well:

and here is the effect so far:

Step 5

We will fine-tune the image a bit and add some colour effect to it. We will do them via adjustment layers as below: (from bottom to top)

Curves

Layer Mask on the Curves adjustment layer:

Selective Color

Color Balance

and you will have the following final effect: (click to enlarge)

That’s it for this tutorial! Hope you enjoy it and find it useful! Drop me a comment below if you have any question.

My name is James and I have been using Photoshop since version 5.0 (long time ago!). PSD Vault is my spare time hobby and I write majority of the Photoshop tutorials and articles here. I hope you enjoy my blog, and feel free to leave a comment or contact me if you have any questions.